Mich. procession to honor Conn. shooting victims

A procession of emergency vehicles is planned across Michigan next month in honor of Connecticut school shooting victims.

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By AP

Ionia Sentinel - Standard-Ionia, MI

By AP

Posted Dec. 19, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Updated Dec 19, 2012 at 5:14 PM

By AP

Posted Dec. 19, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Updated Dec 19, 2012 at 5:14 PM

FLINT

A procession of emergency vehicles is planned across Michigan next month in honor of Connecticut school shooting victims.

Each vehicle will have the name, birthday and date of death for 20 children killed Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, The Flint Journal reported (http://bit.ly/RDQT7e ). The Jan. 5 procession aims to raise money for funeral expenses and a memorial.

"We basically want to give our communities a chance to mourn because it was a shock to us all," said Steven Major, president of Arrowhead Police Emergency Vehicle Equipment in Flint, who also organized a drive to help Hurricane Sandy victims.

The procession is scheduled to head north starting at 8 a.m. from the Michigan Welcome Center on Interstate 75 near the Ohio border.

The route is expected to take the procession through cities including Detroit, Flint, Madison Heights, Royal Oak, Troy, Pontiac, Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Bay City, Gaylord, Petoskey, Mackinac City and St. Ignace. It will end with a vigil in Sault Ste. Marie.

"It's basically a memorial ride to give people a chance to mourn the children who passed," Major said.

Authorities say the horrific events began when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, at their home, and then took her car and some of her guns to the nearby school, where he broke in and opened fire, killing 20 children and six adults before shooting himself.

Paramount Signs and Graphix donated magnets, Major said, that will display the names and dates. He also is working to create a nonprofit called Unified National Emergency Response Team, which will aim to offer rapid response to disasters across the country.